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Deadpool 2 Director Explains How That X-Men Villain’s Cameo Came To Be

Having just crossed the $500 million mark at the worldwide box office this week, I suppose now is as good a time as any to discuss the multitude of awesome cameos in Deadpool 2.

Amongst those featured briefly in the David Leitch-directed sequel are a pair of Academy Award winners, one invisible (Brad Pitt) and one under heavy cosmetics (Matt Damon), Ryan Reynolds as Ryan Reynolds, and the X-Men. But of course, a fan favorite villain made an unlikely appearance as well and stole the show, literally tearing his on-screen competition in half.

That’s right, it’s the Juggernaut, bitch! If you haven’t seen Deadpool 2 yet, I’m sorry to break it to you this way, but the character has a sizeable role in the sequel to 2016’s smash hit film, and he’s voiced by none other than the Merc with a Mouth himself, Ryan Reynolds.

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During a sit-down with ComicBook.com, Leitch discussed the surprise cameo and revealed that bringing the Juggernaut to life wasn’t an easy process, especially considering motion capture wasn’t used.

“We had somebody in a gray suit, you know, performance capture, but we weren’t recording. It was only for a reference on film. We weren’t recording mo-cap. He’s completely animated and so, we just thought, because his geometry, he’s so tall, getting performance capture onset for his physicality wasn’t effective. If it was going to be an actor where we saw his face, we would probably have done a face rig, but it wasn’t that situation. So, we had different stunt performers at different times play him as reference, but it was never a mo-cap situation.”

Unlike his first appearance in X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), where he was portrayed by Vinnie Jones, Cain Marko is much bigger and way more intimidating in Deadpool 2, and the team did all they could to get the proportions right.

“I’ll say this though, for the fight scene at the end with Colossus, we did do mo-cap reference, and so we had a smaller stunt performer — maybe like, 5′ 7″ — fighting a guy who’s 6′ 4″, 6′ 5″, and tried to get more proportions right. And we did the fight scene in mo-cap and put cameras on it. And it was still just a reference for the animators, it was really some great animation done by Framestore that pulled us over the finish line.”

As you surely know, the marketing department did an excellent job keeping the villain out of the public eye, and seeing as the Merc “gets to do all the fun marketing things,” Leitch delighted in hiding the gargantuan baddie.

“Deadpool gets to do all the fun marketing things that no one else gets to do, and we were trying to be provocative with the marketing. We were trying to be shocking. [Ryan Reynold is] sort of the keeper of the brand and he has a lot to say with that. And he was really passionate about keeping Juggernaut a secret, just like he is in the script. It’s like, if you knew he was in it, then you would subvert that moment in the prison where Russell and Wade are talking about the monster in the basement, and you kind of subvert that moment for the audience and it’s not as entertaining.”

Major props go to Fox for managing to keep the reveal under wraps until showtime. Barring a whisper or two, not many moviegoers knew to expect him, perhaps largely due to the character being a CGI construct this time around. And if you’ve yet to see what the oversized badass looks like in Deadpool 2 – or if you just want to take a gander at him when he’s not in motion – know that the studio has now released a high-resolution still, which you can view here.